


The Fire Won't Mean A Thing

by flippednique



Series: First Love [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, that first major fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-24 09:38:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippednique/pseuds/flippednique
Summary: “I…” Connor takes a deep breath. “I kind of want to talk about something Travis mentioned earlier. It’s kind of a serious topic and I just, I just don’t want it to come out stupid.”“Aww, did I never tell you that when your heart gets involved it all comes out in Stupid?” Mitchell teases but he puts his sandwich down so he could give Connor his full attention.The mood was definitely changing.





	1. The One With The Stupid

Mitchell catches Connor lingering by the dining pavilion’s entryway and sends him a smile, mouthing ‘one sec’ before he turns back to his brother.

“Here, I asked the dryads to make it just the way you like it.”

“Strawberry pancakes!” Xavier all but snatches the plate towards him, his brown eyes wide and excited finally rid of the last fleeting touches of sleep. “Ah, I love birthdays! Are there ten?"

“Ten what?” Mitchell frowns. “You’re _sixteen_ now, right?”

“Yeah, the big one-six!” Xavier spins his plate slowly, eyeing it closely. “Are there ten strawberries? I can only have ten strawberries for breakfast.”

“Or what?”

“What do you mean, _or what_?”

“What happens if you eat eleven strawberries?” Mitchell pulls the plate away when it looks like Xavier’s going to start counting them. “Will you die?”

Xavier sighs as if to say ‘ _you don’t understand’_ but out loud says, “Just hand me the plate.”

In contrary, Mitchell pulls it farther away and gives Xavier a very stern look. “Only if you don’t count.”

“I won’t count.”

“Swear it!” Mitchell smacks a hand on the tabletop and several of their other siblings are shamelessly looking at them, all too aware that Mitchell did not tolerate anyone messing around with their food. They had enough siblings falling to ruin because they thought they were eating too much or were getting a little too round.

As head councilor for Aphrodite, or ad interim at the very least, Mitchell had to look out for all of them and he’d be a stick in the mud if he had to be.

“Xavier,” Mitchell said slowly with much feeling. “Raise your right hand and say, _‘May Destiny’s Child never come back together if I count these strawberries_.”

The entire table gasps in surprise at the severity of the promise and Xavier’s mouth is open. It closes and opens several times before Xavier smacks his hands on the table and says, “Pick another group!”

“Nope.” Mitchell edges the plate of pancakes closer now and then picks up a knife and fork to cut the strawberries into smaller pieces that Xavier would have to seriously concentrate if he wanted to count them.

“Can’t it be someone like One Direction?” Xavier asks near begging.

“Leave them out of this!” Sophie hisses from the other end of the table.

Mitchell shakes his head at Xavier and puts the plate of pancakes in front of him then pats his head. “Happy birthday, Xavier. A few extra strawberries won’t hurt.”

There’s something bitter about the way his little brother (not so little anymore since they’re the same age) jerks his head away so that Mitchell’s hand will fall but he decides to drop the conversation.

Mitchell sighs lowly then makes his way to Lacy. “I’m going to spend some time with Connor. Call Chiron if anything happens.”

Lacy flashes him a thumbs up and Mitchell _finally_ makes his way out of the dining pavilion.

“Hey there Angel.” Connor greets him, throwing an arm over his shoulders.

Mitchell leans into it and they start their walk through camp.

It’s been months. Four months to be specific. Four steady months of dating, and Mitchell couldn’t get enough of it. Maybe it was because even though they were constantly around each other being at the same camp, they were often too busy to spend any actual time with each other. The frustration in their tight and busy schedules often lead to much cherished dates at the strawberry field or looked-forward-to walks to Zeus’ Fist, and sometimes, if they truly couldn’t afford any distractions, a five minute hug on Friday’s after a councilors meeting at The Big House before they run off to their respective cabins.

Due to most of the seven being called out for a quest, Mitchell has had to take over Piper’s place (since Drew’s adamantly refused to take on that type of responsibility ever again) and Travis has been slowly weaning Connor into handling Hermes’ on his own since he would be going to college soon. Both have been looking into a successor among their immediately younger siblings since they only had a year between them before they’d leave camp themselves.

“How do you think the quest is going?” Mitchell wonders as they made their way around camp. Not exactly going anywhere, just strolling and enjoying the sun. It was the rare morning where both their cabins could survive (with minimal injury in the Hermes cabin’s case) without them.

“Nico hasn’t exactly been summoned so I reckon things are going just fine.”

“I should burn something to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Mitchell mutters. “Will would be so disappointed if Nico had to suddenly go away.”

“How are rehearsals going for them?”

“Really well!” Mitchell grins. “I mean it’s not every year the Apollo cabin volunteers for the summer-end activity so with the rate they’re going, it’s great.”

“Most camps can’t handle the stress because it takes a lot of effort.”

“You’re telling me.” Mitchell groans. “They got me and a few others from Aphrodite working on the costumes and Jecs and a couple of Hephaestus kids are working on the set. The Ares cabin also threatened the Apollo cabin that their fight scenes better be worthy of being called a _fight_ scene and of course Catherine, whose leading this by the way, took offense and swore it would be the best summer-end activity ever!”

“Again, _effort_.”

“Doesn’t Hermes usually take care of the summer-end activity though? Like, with a full-on magic show?” Mitchell claps his hands together the way Travis and Connor would when they started said magic shows. “Letting go of the reigns this year, huh?”

“Looks like it.” Connor hangs his head slightly. “I thought Travis would want to do something, like, really _big_ since it’s his last year before college and I’d have to hold the fort on my own but…”

“He just really wants to spend time with Katie, huh?” Mitchell finishes for him.

“Yeah.” Connor shoves his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants and the sun catches the edge of his smile like Apollo was blessing him personally.

Mitchell inwardly rolls his eyes at himself for silly thoughts. They’ve been coming more and more often these days. But it was… it was good. The butterflies in his stomach went ballistic in the rare and not-so-rare moments that Connor pulled an incredibly sweet line and he was even more adorable when he didn’t realize he was doing it.

Thankfully, their relationship wasn’t so new anymore that their siblings made a big deal out of it whenever they mentioned they were meeting up after doing this or skipping on a camp activity for snacks at the Camp Store. As far as the physical stuff went, the most they’ve gotten was an enthusiastic make out fifteen minutes before curfew.

Mitchell winces at the memory of Connor’s head banging against a tree branch and them almost falling into the lake. Ahhhh, memories like that were meant to remain in the past.

“What’s that face for?” 

“What?”

Connor gestures to Mitchell’s face in general and pokes his cheek. “That face. The nose wrinkling and eyebrow scrunching.” 

“I was just thinking,” Mitchell shoves Connor’s hand away and goes as far as to move away when Connor goes back to poke him again.

Connor holds up his hands in surrender and makes a sudden turn.

“No.” Mitchell says immediately.

“No? No as in, ‘ _no I will not follow my boyfriend of four months on a path deviating away from the usual route_ ‘? or ‘ _no_ —?”

Mitchell smacks a hand over Connor’s smiling mouth and narrows his eyes at him, the colors changing from green to a frosty blue. “No, as in ‘ _this cannot be another surprise. Zeus Almighty, how_ _do I keep getting lucky? Is this just a dream?”_

Connor pulls Mitchell’s hand of his mouth before bringing it back to press a soft kiss on the back, squeezing it tight. “Not a dream.”

Mitchell feels his cheeks flush, you’d think he’d be more used to Connor doing this after months of it but the son of Hermes pulled surprises without rhyme or reason. It made every single time absolutely special.

“Midmorning-slash-pre-lunch-snack for two?” Connor gestures to the picnic blanket and the assortment of sandwiches and chips laid out before them.

Mitchell bites on his lip to keep from smiling too wide and nods his head. “When did you even get the time to get this done?”

“You never ask a magician to reveal his tricks!” Connor wags a finger at him. “And this is easy.”

“You sure make it _look_ easy.” Mitchell sinks to the ground and sits with his legs crossed underneath him, reaching for something to nibble on. He’s figured out early on that when he’s too shell-shocked to move after a surprise like this Connor starts worrying that he doesn’t like his surprise.

“I gotta keep you happy.” Connor jokes, his eyes following the way Mitchell goes through the small spread they have, cornflower blue lit up with satisfaction. “How else will I compete with your past boyfriends?”

Mitchell lets out a laugh that was more of an obnoxious ‘ _HA_!’ around a mouthful of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and bread.

Connor startles and drops the bag of Cheetos in his hand. “What ha?”

“Ha.” Mitchell repeats after swallowing and batting the hand not holding a sandwich carelessly in the space between them. “Ha as in there is _no_ competition. You’re my first boyfriend so, yeah.”

“Oh.”

Mitchell gives Connor a confused look. “That sounds like a bad _oh_.”

“N-No.” Connor stammers, smoothening out non-existent wrinkles on their picnic blanket. “I mean, um. I’m just.”

“Words, sweetheart, use them.”

“I’m just confused.” Connor clears his throat. “You’re, well, _you_.”

“Me?” Mitchell echoes with a small smile.

“Yeah!” Connor exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air nearly smacking Mitchell’s sandwich.

Mitchell jerks his hands away protectively. “Watch it! This is really good!”

Connor pauses, distracted, and grins at him. “Yeah? I had Katie loan me fresh vegetables.”

“ _Really_ good.” Mitchell promises taking another big bite, chewing, and swallowing. “What’s this about me being me and boyfriends?”

“I’m just surprised, is all.” Connor clears out. “You’re, Mitchell you’re _amazing_.”

There’s no stopping the blush after that.

“How does no one else see that?” Connor wonders out loud.

Mitchell clears his own throat, a small lump stuck in it as he tries to stamp on the giddiness building in his chest. He keeps his stare on his sandwich, not sure what he might do if he has to look Connor in the eye right now. “I guess it takes the right person… to see that kind of thing.”

Connor makes a noise that sounds like he’s protesting then he grows quiet.

“What are you thinking about?” Mitchell asks this time, reaching over to tuck away a wayward curl from falling over Connor’s eyes.

“I…” Connor takes a deep breath. “I kind of want to talk about something Travis mentioned earlier. It’s kind of a serious topic and I just, I just don’t want it to come out stupid.”

“Aww, did I never tell you that when your heart gets involved it _all_ comes out in Stupid?” Mitchell teases but he puts his sandwich down so he could give Connor his full attention.

“You might have mentioned that.” Connor shoots back then stops stalling, his hands reaching out for Mitchell’s, fingers trailing over the lines on his palms. “Do you ever think about the future?”

“Sometimes.” Mitchell answers easily; they’ve had talks like this before.

“Do you ever think about us in the future?”

The mood is changing.

Mitchell watches intently as Connor continues to run his fingers over his palms. “A-Are you, um. Are you trying to _read_ my future?”

“No.” Connor chuckles shakily, letting go of Mitchell’s hands.

The son of Aphrodite snatches them back like burned, tucking them close to his stomach. The mood was definitely different. “What did you want to talk about Connor?”

“It’s kind of silly.” Connor begins. “But Travis did tell me that maybe I was your first boyfriend.”

“Okay?”

“And well, he was just saying some stuff about how relationships like that, this, usually,” Connor looks at him properly now, his blue eyes focused and intense. “Well, they don’t last.”

 


	2. The One With The Self Care

Drew’s in the middle of teaching Natalya the basics of a full face (because the girl has finally seen reason and has learned that baby powder is just never enough) when Mitchell makes his appearance an hour before lunch. 

Natalya squeaks when Drew’s hand moves on its own and leaves her pretty half-done face with an obnoxious slash of harsh contour cream. It clashes terribly with her skin tone but had it been bended, perhaps it would have suited her. 

“What happened?” Valentina quickly asks, approaching their eldest brother in a flurry of pastels and pinks.

Mitchell’s face is an ugly shade of red and his entire frame is shaking from the ferocity of his sobs. He has his hands over his eyes as if that would be enough to stave the tears. 

Drew doesn’t move from her position at the vanity until she hears the rattling knocks and the devastating amount of desperation in Connor Stoll’s voice, muffled by the closed cabin door. 

“Mitchell, please! Can’t we talk this out some more?”

Mitchell is shaking his head even though Connor obviously can’t see him. Almost instantly the entire cabin snaps into action. Louis wraps an arm around Mitchell’s shoulders and leads him to the bed furthest away and Drew stalks to the cabin door, heels clicking on the hardwood floors, and flings it open.

Connor almost falls over midknock and he looks just as bad, if not worse, than Mitchell did. His brown curls were frizzy and his eyes were wide with- ah, guilt. So whatever they were fighting about was his fault. 

“He doesn’t want to see you.” Drew tells him with as little sympathy as possible.

Connor glares at her, albeit weakly, as he tries to look over her shoulder to catch even a glimpse of Mitchell. “I don’t think this is any of your business Drew.”

“I can’t make Mitchell come to the door anymore than I am letting you get inside our cabin. Sorry,” Drew throws in a very nasty smile at him and shrugs her shoulders not sounding sorry at all. “Tough luck darling.”

“Please,” Connor tries, his hands clenching into fists. “I don’t want things to end like this between us.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you made him cry!” Drew snaps and sneers before slamming the door in Connor’s face, not caring if any of his fingers get caught. In fact, she wishes they did. She’d burn one of her designer scarfs if even his pinky gets caught in the aftermath of her rage. 

Lacy, Sophie, Louis, and Xavier huddle around Mitchell in a rare show of protectiveness and Drew stalks forward to join them, sidestepping abandoned manicure kits and even the open foundation bottles and palettes still on the vanity. 

Valentina and Natalya join them, the latter void of makeup after a bit of miscellar water, just as Drew sits on the edge of the bed by Mitchell’s legs. Or she would have if her little brother weren’t curling in on himself and the pillow he was practically strangling in his arms. One small mound of absolute misery. 

“What happened?” Drew says getting to the point of things. She would let Mitchell stew and watch his favorite chick-flicks after the explanation. It would definitely depend on the severity of the situation. 

The eldest son of Aphrodite pulls himself together as best as he can and stares at the pink of their cabin walls. “We broke up.”

“It’s only been a few months,” Louis starts carefully, not wanting to trigger the waterworks. His siblings collectively tense. “Did he… has he found someone else?” 

Mitchell shakes his head and his eyes fall shut. “I don’t know. Maybe?” 

Several exclamations of “what?!” fills the cabin and an incensed Xavier (this morning’s incident obviously far from his mind) is going ballistic in French. Which wasn’t a problem, they usually didn’t even notice the switch in languages. Though to be fair, the language of love has never sounded so absolutely scornful or vulgar before.

“What do you mean, maybe?” Drew clarifies, fixing Mitchell with her steely gray gaze. 

“That doesn’t matter!” Sophie says cutting them off, her long hair frizzing at the edges from her ire. “Is it someone from camp?!” 

Extremely scandalized gasps fill the cabin and Lacy clutches Natalya’s shoulders and shakes her. “But they have to know that Mitchell and Connor are together!”

“It might not be their fault.” Natalya reminds her shaking her back. “Connor might have decided to end things on his own!”

“And broke things off instead of becoming unfaithful!” Valentina cuts in, joining her sisters in their contemplation.

“Oi! We should hear Mitchell out.” Xavier cuts in and everyone turns to look at the sibling in question.

Mitchell takes in a shaky breath and looks at his siblings collectively. “I’m not sure I even understood everything properly, okay? I don’t want to talk about it. Not yet. I need time to think. “

That was a tall order for the children of Aphrodite but they made various signs of agreement and that was as good as promises that they would try their damned hardest to control themselves. Instead, they pile themselves around their hurt sibling, their silence comforting. In a sense, Mitchell was grieving, if at the most, hurting very deeply.

He wouldn’t cry if that weren’t the case. 

Time moves in slow motion, their little cuddle pile reveling in the silence as the rest of them try to gauge the situation when they knew so little. The fight was fresh and even with the declaration of a break up, it was very possible that that had only happened in the heat of the moment and neither Connor nor Mitchell truly meant it. 

Mitchell breaks the silence when he clears his throat and tries to separate himself from the tangle of limbs and downy covers. “We should go to lunch. The kids will be waiting.” 

Xavier perks up and nods. “Mkay. Let’s go. You can make sure I don’t count the cheese slices in my burrito.” 

Mitchell rolls his eyes but appreciates the distraction, making a quick stop at the bathroom to wash his face, wincing at the blotchy red patches on his cheeks and his even redder eyes. The cool water soothes the warm and redness although he does use a bit of manipulation to forcefully clear his eyes but they were still a dull brown staring back at him from his reflection. Like mud. His real eye color. Mitchell felt like mud. Fitting. 

Louis and Sophie are waiting for him when he makes his way out of the bathroom and wave little bottles of product at him. He gives in to their silent request, lets them dab on foundation over his face and gloss up his lips. 

“Can’t let the whole camp know.” Sophie mumbles as she works on his eyeliner. 

Valentina takes over and sweeps back his bangs and slicking the rest of his hair back so it wouldn’t fall over his eyes. They did a lot of things and Drew ends their mini-make over with a few sprits of Mitchell’s favorite cologne. 

“Self-care.” Drew says and caps the cologne bottle and places it back on the large vanity top. 

Mitchell gives his reflection a look, he can’t work up a smile for himself but he does manage a small one of thanks to his siblings who all hug him (Drew going so far as to squeeze his shoulder) and after the rest of them work on themselves a bit, they make their way out the door. 

“I love burrito lunches.” Xavier hums as they move towards the dining pavilion. 

Lacy makes a soft noise when they stop by Hestia’s hearth, passing her fingers over the shroud they made for Piper when she joined Jason and the others for the quest. 

“May their travels be blessed.” Louis says softly, reverently. He’d gone ahead and grabbed something from the Aphrodite table, their younger siblings joining them after Ancient Greek with Malcolm from the Athena Cabin. All twelve of them close their eyes in prayer as their burrito burned. Mom, keep Piper and the rest of them safe. 

Valentina subtly tosses an eyebrow stick into the fire and the collectively older siblings prayed for Mitchell’s peace of mind and strength. 

“So,” Natalya breaks their silence and smiles at Addison, Madeline, and Janessa- their youngest at seven, eight, and nine. “How was Ancient Greek?”

“Evan pulled on Addison’s hair!” Janessa huffs. 

The siblings take their conversation to their table and burritos disappear as the talking continues. For a moment, Mitchell forgets about this morning altogether and the moment is lost when the Hermes cabin show up, all loud and excited because they had an hour in the Arena with the Ares cabin and yeah, they would probably get their butts handed to them but they could try their newest tricks and maneuvers and see if they’d work! 

Mitchell keeps his eyes firmly on his table even when he feels Connor’s gaze fall on him. It’s heavy, like someone had put weights on his shoulders and he bites into his burrito a little too harshly then needed. 

Anabelle, the only teen sibling who hadn’t been at the cabin frowns. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Mitchell tells her and consequently gives the rest of their siblings a look. “Nothing.” 

Anabelle looks like she wants to protest but drops the subject knowing that she’d find out soon enough.

Madeline is tugging on Mitchell’s arm, slightly oblivious to the tenseness of her older brother’s shoulders and Mitchell is forced to drop his staring contest with the dining table to look at her. “Yes Maddy?” 

“Did Connor get you those sequins we need for the Apollo cabin’s costumes?” 

Mitchell drops his burrito and his eyes go wide. He forgot to ask about that earlier before—“I… I’m not sure Maddy.”

“Did you forget to ask?” Janessa pipes up. 

“I did.” Mitchell smiles apologetically at them. “I’m sorry. I’ll drop by the camp store later and ask then, okay?”

“I can do that.” Louis cuts in, poking at his burrito unenthusiastically. “I need to pick up cookies or something too.”

Xavier makes a disgusted noise. “But burritos!”

“I’ve had one and that’s enough.” Louis pushes his, apparently, second burrito, towards Xavier and crosses his arms on top of the table. “And who was it that was worried about too many strawberries this morning?”

“Burritos are an exception.” Xavier makes a now happier noise and pulls the offered plate towards him. 

Louis rolls his eyes at this, albeit affectionately, and then smiles at Mitchell. “Is there anything you want at the camp store?” 

Mitchell smiles back at him, grateful. “Chocolate.”

“White? Dark? Milk? Nuts?” 

“Get everything.” Drew slides a couple of crumpled dollar bills over the table from where she was sipping on her ice tea, her burrito half gone. “And maybe some chips for the kids?” 

Addison squeals happily, high pitched, and the Aphrodite siblings wince but laugh when she ducks her head in embarrassment. 

“I’ll talk to Chiron and see if we can cancel our scheduled activities after lunch. Let’s have a movie marathon!” Valentina says after a beat. “Natalya could you ask the Hephaestus cabin for one of those working DVD players or something?” 

“Got it.” Natalya gives them all a playful salute and leaves the table.

Valentina balks. “Not right now!” 

“Leave her, I think she’s been waiting for an excuse to go speak to someone from Hephaestus for a while now.” Anabelle tells them then seems to collect herself, her eyes on Mitchell. “Is there anything else you need?” 

In all honesty, Mitchell smiles at her, at all his siblings and shakes his head. “I think I’ll be okay.” 

Chiron excuses them after lunch, since it was near the end of summer; their schedules weren’t as strict as before (but when were they ever strictly followed really?) And they spend the night with some beds pushed together so that they could all fit, huddled under their feathery comforters with the lights off and some of the most classic romcoms playing on their borrowed DVD player and TV. They passed around bags of Doritos and Cheetos and the occasional Ferrero Roche went flying. 

Mitchell doesn’t notice how fast time flies, but most of his siblings are snoozing midway the fifth film in a row and he ends up extracting himself from the pile, cleans up a little and turns the TV off. 

It’s night out and he grabs a hoodie from the chest at the end of his bunk and makes his way out the door. After he puts it on, he immediately thinks of taking it off but then decides that now was the best time to have it on hand. 

He makes careful steps, trying not to trip in the dark but he knows his way by heart and he ends up outside the Camp Store after only a little while. The lights inside the store are dimmed and Mitchell walks in, hands shoved into the pockets of the hoodie. 

“So that’s where my favorite one went.” Connor’s voice doesn’t even startle him. Of course Connor would be waiting for him. Hoping he’d come. 

“Hi.” Mitchell starts.

Connor nods at him. “Hi.”

“I…” Mitchell searches for the right words to say. In the end he settles for, “I’m ready to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Filler? Ahahaha, do you agree with the Aphrodite sibs and think Connor's met someone else?


	3. The One With The Talking

“Talk?” Connor repeats slowly, like Mitchell’s just asked him for a prank that even a child of Hermes couldn’t possibly pull off, at least without getting caught doing it and paying for it dearly.

“I’m sorry I walked out like that.” Mitchell says, finding it a little hard to meet Connor’s eyes. “I know, that, I know that that wasn’t very mature of me.”

“No,” Connor cuts in, clearing his throat. “That’s okay. I know you needed to process things.”

“No, it’s not okay.” Mitchell protests. “We were having a conversation and I let my emotions get the best of me and walked out like a little kid having a tantrum.”

Connor looks like he wants to say a lot of things to that, but in the end he smiles at Mitchell, a bit smaller and duller than his usual smiles and says, “How about we agree to disagree?”

“Okay.” Mitchell nods and maybe returns the smile? He’s not sure. He can’t really feel his face. “So, you were saying something about first loves.”

“Right.” Connor looks just as awkward as he can’t seem to figure out what to do with his hands. He settles for placing them on the counter top beside the store’s cash box. “Travis and I were talking about how attached I was getting to you. And, well, he was just telling me to be careful.”

Mitchell nods, remembering that part of the conversation. “Did he say why?”

“Not really.” Connor grumbles, rubbing the nape of his neck as if that would lessen the stress he’s been feeling. “I mean, it’s Travis. He likes to drop enough hints that I figure out what’s going on but he’s also annoying enough that he just doesn’t say things out right. Mostly.”

“Mostly.” Mitchell echoes, crossing his arms over his chest a little irked. “If he has the gall to drop a bomb like that he owes you at least an explanation.”

“Nah, it’s okay. We’ve always had this kind of relationship.”

Mitchell’s eyes narrow. “I don’t like it.”

“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way.” Connor frowns at him. “I mean it’s between us though so, it’s not like it’s hurting you.”

“But it _is_ hurting me.” Mitchell snaps.

“How?”

“This!” Mitchell points at himself then at Connor. “This right here. He said something cryptic and thought provoking and suddenly we’re fighting like this.”

“I think that’s exactly what Travis meant.” Connor sighs. “I’ve had some time to think about it, between our talk this morning and now.”

“And?”

“And I think he has a point.”

Mitchell wonders if it would hurt any less if someone just pulled the ground from underneath his feet and let him fall straight into Tartarus. No, bad joke. Bad joke. Tartarus was the _worst_ place ever.

“… And why do you think that?”

But here, standing in front of the camp store’s counter, Mitchell thought, was an absolute close second.

“It’s just that,” Connor seems to be searching for his words. “Firsts are usually considered as a rough draft. There’s a lot of room for error and misunderstandings.”

“So you’re saying first loves are made to fail?” Mitchell throws in, fighting the urge to grit his teeth.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Connor says hurriedly. “I’m just saying that there’s a lot to consider.”

“Name one!”

“How about our maturity?” Connor asks. “I’m sixteen, you’re sixteen. We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

“Three things.” Mitchell says with a strained laugh. “One, we’re not getting _married_. No one’s gotten down on one knee or popped out a ring. No one’s saying we have to be in this relationship forever for the long haul. Am I right?”

Connor begrudgingly nods.

“Two,” Mitchell smacks his hands on the counter top. “We’re _demigods_. Who knows when one of us is going to get sent on a quest and meets our end? Hades forbid one of us drop dead right this freaking second! We aren’t exactly the same as every body else going through their peaceful lives, are we? We won’t always have the luxury of _time_. ”

Connor subtly knocks on the wooden counter and gives another nod.

“And three,” Mitchell breathes shakily. “I thought we were doing pretty well. I didn’t… I don’t even know what else you want me to take away from this except that you think we’re meant to break up because, what? We don’t have experience? Does that matter in the grand scheme of things?”

“I’m sorry.” Connor tells him, a pained look in his eyes. “We _were_ doing well. We were, we were perfect.”

Mitchell shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “No we weren’t.”

Connor goes quiet.

“We weren’t perfect, Connor.” Mitchell repeats. “But that’s what made it so good for me. That’s what made everything new every day.”

“And what if it’s not like that tomorrow?”

“Then we deal with it _tomorrow_!” Mitchell throws a frustrated hand into the air and glares at Connor. “We deal with it when it _happens_! Not like this. What’s the point of quitting when you’re ahead?”

Connor says something and through the rise of his emotions, Mitchell misses it. “What was that?”

“I said it’d hurt less.” Connor says, meeting Mitchell’s gaze steadily. “I know you told me that you let people leave you when the time comes. You don’t go after them; you can’t be bothered because you believe that it’s happening for a reason. What if that day comes Mitchell and I’m not secure enough in myself to stay rooted? It might seem silly to you but some things, some people, are worth chasing.”

Mitchell feels like he’s just been slapped in the face. “Y-You, you wouldn't leave if you were happy. What’s the point of chasing after you?”

“What if I just need to know that you’d come after me?” Connor asks. “What if I just need that reassurance?”

“Is me being _here_ not enough to make you stay?!” Mitchell’s voice raises and the stillness of the camp store at night is shaken. “What did I even do for you to start thinking like this?! Did I, Did I do something wrong?”

“No!” Connor says hurriedly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me, it’s my thinking. This is an asshole move, me challenging you on your beliefs. But I can’t help it because it’s clashing with mine. Right now, we’re enough. But what happens when I can’t be what you need?”

“And what exactly is it that you think I need, Stoll?” Mitchell asks. “You barely know me.”

“I barely know _myself_.” Connor hangs his head.

Mitchell’s heart is beating so fast he wants to scream. Nothing is adding up, so much of this conversation isn’t making sense. He swallows it down though; he can’t let his emotions get the better of him this time. He needs clarity.

The son of Aphrodite takes shaky breaths, one after the other until he thinks he won’t yell at the other boy in front of him.

Connor seems to be doing the same.

“I’m scared.”

Mitchell blinks at Connor, stumped in surprise. “What?”

“I’m scared.” Connor says again. “I don’t know how I’m going to handle a relationship with you when I can’t even begin to build myself up for the responsibilities I’ll have when Travis leaves.”

_Oh._

Mitchell inhales, another shaky breath, and then clears his throat. “That’s what this is about.”

“Mostly.” Connor admits. “But it’s also mostly because I’ve been reflecting, somewhat. I don’t know myself. I’m not… I’m not mature enough to handle all this at the same time. One point, I’m going to break and want to run away. And if, for you, that’s a deal breaker. If for you, that’ll be the end of things. Then, then maybe I’m not the one for you.”

Mitchell feels a lump lodge in his throat, his eyes prickling with hot tears. “S-So this is my fault?”

“It’s not! Zeus, no!” Connor looks like he wants to grab Mitchell, pull him into a hug but he holds back.

Mitchell wonders if this is what a balloon feels like when it’s been cut off from its string.

“This is _no one’s_ fault.” Connor says with a strained voice, his eyes pleading for something Mitchell isn’t sure what. Was it answers? He didn’t have them either.

“We,” Mitchell tries. “We can work this… out? We can, we can go through this _together_?”

Connor smiles at him, sadly. Weakly. Like he’s already made his decision. “We don’t _have_ to.”

Mitchell fights every fibre in his body to keep the tears in.

“I don’t want to drag you into this, Mitchell.” Connor says. “I… I don’t want you to think you have to _change_ for my sake.”

“I’m not afraid of change.

“I know.” Connor smiles, this time, it’s a little more real but it still doesn’t reach his eyes. “Your eyes have been going crazy this whole time.”

Mitchell stills. “I didn’t even notice.”

“You were a little preoccupied.”

Mitchell closes his eyes and takes an even deeper breath. “I can’t do this.”

“Do wha-“

“Don’t.” Mitchell almost begs with a raised hand. “Don’t try to pretend that everything’s okay. Because it’s not. I’m, I’m _confused_ and I’m _hurt_. You tell me that you want to end this because I won’t _chase after you_ but you don’t want me to _change my sake for you_ then, then—“

Mitchell’s head is spinning.

The son of Hermes gives Mitchell a lost and pained look. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Too late.” Mitchell says the words with something that felt like finality. “Too late, Connor.”

“Mitchell.” Connor grasps at his words like he would sands falling through his fingers. “I didn’t, I didn’t want our relationship to end… when I started talking this morning.”

“Then what did you want?”

“I just wanted to talk it out.” Connor says. “I just, wanted to say it out loud. See what you thought. And then you got mad, when I started talking about how maybe I wasn’t what’s best for you—“

“Because I felt like you were making my decisions for me.” Mitchell cries. “Let me be the judge of that! I’m the one who’s in love with you!”

Connor’s mouth falls open and his eyes go wide and it’s such a comical expression after all the frowning and the furrowed brows that Mitchell’s tongue stumbles on anything else he might have to say and his brain takes a little too long to catch up with what he’s just said.

“You-“

“I do.” Mitchell cuts in, not sure if he could stand hearing it from someone else. Did he actually just say that?? “At least I _think_ I do. You said it yourself, we’re young. We don’t have experience. But I _think_ I love you. Yes, you make me happy when we’re together, and sometimes even when we aren’t. You make the damn butterflies go fluttery in my stomach. You’re putting me through this shit but I can still feel it in my heart to forgive you.”

Connor looks like he’d just swallowed his tongue and he shakes his head as if that would help clear it.

“Love doesn’t make a relationship.” Mitchell tells him, not sure were this newfound wisdom was coming from. “I can love you and not be with you. It just… It’ll hurt.”

“Mitchell…”

Mitchell shakes his head. “I don’t want it to hurt. I don’t think that we need to break up. I don’t _want_ to break up.”

Connor nods. “I don’t want to break up either. I was just… thinking out loud. Stupidly.”

“We can make this work.” Mitchell tells him. “We can, I don’t know, just give each other space?”

“Space.” Connor echoes then closes his eyes and covers his face with his hands as he nods. “I think that would be good.”

“Everything is too raw and too… too _much_.” Mitchell clears his throat. “We should focus on the camp activities, then maybe talk about this again before we leave.

There’s silence.

Then Connor breaks it with a soft sob and Mitchell, once again, feels like the wood under his feet has just been pulled right from under him. 

He’s never seen Connor cry.

But hey there was a first for everything.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #CryingConnor2k18 What have I done?


	4. The One With More Talking

Mitchell’s stomach feels like it’s just been tugged out by a red hot poker at the sight of Connor’s cornflower blue eyes welling up with tears and his heart misses a beat when they fall down his tan cheeks.

“C-Connor!"

The son of Aphrodite finds himself with his face pressed into Connor’s chest and the entirety of the Hermes child’s being seemed to shake from the ferocity of his sobs. Where the heck did the counter between them go??

“Don’t look at me!” Connor breaks out in a choked whisper. “I don’t want you to see me cry.”

Something warm flares out from Mitchell’s stomach and _oh, it’s the butterflies_ and his hands reach out to wrap around Connor’s trembling form. “You’re absolutely ridiculous Connor Stoll.”

“I know.” Connor’s laugh is wet because he’s still obviously crying. “I _know_.”

Mitchell doesn’t say anything else. He’s not sure there’s anything for him to say. They stay like that for a minute, maybe longer. There’s a difference in the air. The floating feeling Mitchell had earlier that evening, when it felt like all his strings had been cut. It’s gone. Here, in Connor’s arms, he feels anchored again.

Connor’s shaking is tapering off to stillness. He’s more solid now, enough that when he whispers “Thank you.” Mitchell hears it without even trying because his breath is even and his voice dry.

Mitchell pulls back so he can look at Connor now, his chest tightening at the tear tracks still on Connor’s face. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“I want to.” Connor insists. “I… I’m lucky. Travis, he and his first girlfriend weren’t. They had fights like this, a lot. But, but I can see why he would warn me to be careful. Because everything is new, everything is shaky, a rough ground.”

“Yeah?” Mitchell relates so he ventures through it even more carefully.

“It hurts.” Connor worries on his bottom lip for a second. “That’s why Travis was overstepping, somewhat. I know how bad it can hurt and I’m sorry I made you go through it too.”

Mitchell takes the moment to try and absorb what Connor is saying.

“But I don’t think Travis has to worry.” Connor continues, this time the smile on his face is reaching his eyes and they’re lit up, all blue and beautiful. “Mitchell, you’re different. I don’t need to date anyone else to know that.”

Mitchell can feel the redness fan across his face and he builds up a bit of sass in his voice. “Course I’m different. I’m one of a kind.”

“That you are.” Connor agrees and there’s some kind of absolute honesty in his voice that makes it sound completely unreal. “Thank you. I… I had a lot of things on my mind and I guess part of me was just overthinking a little bit.”

“Try a _lot_. It’s like a fire, overthinking that is. It starts off small and before you know it, everything is burning and all you can do is get out screaming.” Mitchell shakes his head at Connor, but this time it’s fond. “I’m actually a little glad that happened.”

“Really?” Connor asks dubiously.

“Yeah, I mean. If our first fight was this bad and we got through it then, we can go through anything, right? The fire won’t mean a thing.” Mitchell frowns and turns over in Connor’s arms. They settle comfortably around his waist and Mitchell leans against Connor, his back flush with Connor’s chest. “Or is that my inner romantic speaking?”

Connor makes a thoughtful sound and rests his chin on Mitchell’s shoulder. “We fight. I say something stupid and the world stops but you listen. You didn’t let things go. You didn’t leave me in pain.”

“You’ve got something wrong.” Mitchell clicks his tongue. “This is not a you-and-I thing.” He turns his head to press a kiss on Connor’s cheek. “This is a we-thing.”

“A we-thing, huh?” Connor repeats, moving one arm off of Mitchell’s waist to intertwine their fingers. He squeezes, tight.

“Yeah,” Mitchell nods. “So that other thing earlier, that bit where you were saying that we _didn’t have to go through this together_. That’s not just your decision to make.”

“Mhmm.” Connor makes a wounded sound. “I’m sorry. If I’d only talked it out with you a little more rather than keeping it in until it escalated like that maybe we wouldn’t have had to go through meaningless hurt like that. I forgot that you love surprising me.”

“Fights are only meaningless if we don’t learn from them.” Mitchell says patiently as he looks down at their interlocked fingers. “And I think we learned a lot of things from this.”

Connor nods then makes another sound, this time more happy as he nuzzles Mitchell’s neck.

The son of Aphrodite raises a brow. “What?”

_“You love me.”_

“You do not get to tease me about that.” Mitchell pushes Connor’s smiling face away but he ends up smiling as well. They fall to a quiet where Connor brings up their hands and he presses a kiss to the back of Mitchell’s. The latter’s breath catches. “I do, love you, that is.”

Connor lets go of Mitchell’s hand and slowly turns him so that they’re facing each other again. His smile is beautiful. “I don’t think I deserve you.”

Mitchell’s face scrunches up together adorably. “There you go again with the _dese_ -!”

Connor cuts the rant off with a kiss. It’s soft, it’s quick but Mitchell is breathless when they get some space between them.

One of Connor’s curls fall over his eyes and Mitchell tucks it back and oh…

Connor’s eyebrows furrow together. “What’s wrong?”

Mitchell’s voice is shaky. “I just, wow. I missed doing that. The whole time we were fighting your hair was going all over the place and I wanted to just reach over and fix it but I didn’t know if I was still allowed.”

“Oh,” there’s a flush on Connor’s cheeks and he blows air into them as he thinks. He moves them again, Mitchell’s breath escaping his lungs when the other boy lifts him easily enough so that he’s sitting on the counter. Connor then messes his hair up, some locks frizzing up as their natural curls are disturbed and separated. He grins at Mitchell, all boyish and roguish and gorgeous. “Go crazy!”

“ _You’re_ crazy!” Mitchell laughs but reaches out with both hands to gently twist and twirl the curls back into their proper places then gently tucking them back to some form of order.

All the while Connor watches him like he wants to say something, everything all at the same time.

Mitchell presses a kiss to Connor’s cheek just as he’s pushing a lock back and Connor leans into it.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

Connor makes a humming noise. “That song you’re singing.”

“I was singing?”

“Yeah,” Connor makes the humming noise again.

Mitchell frowns; he obviously hadn’t realized he’d been humming, and Connor smiles at him, ready to tell him it’s okay.

The camp store’s trusty bell rings before that can happen.

“Connor! They started it! We need to pay them back!” several of Connor’s siblings rush into the store and stop short when they see Mitchell and Connor together. One trailing behind didn’t notice soon enough and bowelled into the first three.

Mitchell winces at the little Hermes kids pile that Jess, Alice, Julia, and Cecil were currently but couldn’t hold his laughter when Connor abandons him on the counter to flop on top of all of them.

“Holy Hades you’re heavy!” Julia gasps for air.

Alice kicks out her legs. “Get off of me Connor, I can’t breathe!”

“I have all four of you on top of me!” Jess groans pitifully at the bottom.

Connor does his best to become even heavier. “But I can’t fight gravity!”

Cecil manages to free himself from the pile and gets to his feet. “Heya Mitchell.”

Mitchell waves at him and kicks out his legs a little. “Hi Cecil.”

“Did you guys make up?” Cecil asks hopefully.

Mitchell winks at him.

The son of Hermes grins widely. “That’s great!”

“Thanks.” Mitchell smiles at him. “So, why were you guys running like bats out of the Underworld?”

“There are bats in the underworld?” Cecil asks to which Mitchell shrugs. “Actually, you might wanna go back to your cabin. Your siblings think Connor, or one of us, kidnapped you to work things out. They got someone from the Hecate cabin to help them and one thing led to another…”

“Everybody else got turned into pigs!” Alice barrel rolls into the camp store with her long braid coming apart and she was struggling with the weight in her arms.

“Oh…”

“Is that?”

“Travis!” Connor pulls the struggling piglet out of Alice’s arms and brings it close to his face. “Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades! You’re thinner than I thought you would be.”

The piglet makes some significant squealing and oinking as if he was rebutting Connor’s observations.

“My siblings did this did they?” Mitchell asks the Hermes siblings.

Alice nods. “They’re out for blood.”

“We’ll pay them back kindly.” Jess and Julia exchange a fist bump then all of them turn to Connor.

“What do you want us to do?” Cecil asks, pulling a pad of paper out of nowhere. “The spell on the rest of them’s not going to last very long. I think. Do you want us to retaliate now or later?”

Connor looks at Travis-piglet considering for a moment then says, “It’s actually really late. We’ll have to retaliate tomorrow.”

His siblings give groans of disappointment.

Connor chuckles and passes Travis to Mitchell. “You can spend the night thinking of a great prank, or something.”

“Fine.” Alice says sulkily as she Cecil, Julia, and Jess head out. “Let’s go round up the rest of the piggies before they get turned to bacon.”

“I’ll join you as soon as I’ve closed the camp store.” Connor calls after them and goes about doing that. Dimming lights and locking glass cabinet doors. When he gets back to the counter, he swaps Travis for some chocolates and chips.

Mitchell eyes his new bundle with raised brows.

“You missed dinner.” Connor says by way of explanation. “Your siblings too.”

“I don’t have any cash on me.” Mitchell says as he hops off the counter landing lightly on his feet.

“It’s on the house.” Connor smiles at him and they leave the camp store together. It’s a little difficult to lock the door when he has a struggling Travis piglet in the other arm but he manages.

Tonight’s campfire with the Apollo cabin’s on hold as the campers help the Hermes’ kids round up their transformed siblings in a game of CAPTURE THE PIGS!

Kayla is trying to keep Clarisse and Xiao from the Ares cabin from trussing several piglets and roasting them over the campfire for squealing too much. “They’re people!”

“Not right now they aren’t!”

“Lechon!”

Connor makes sure to keep his hold on Travis steady.

“You don’t have to walk me back to my cabin.” Mitchell tells him.

Connor smiles. “I kinda want to. It feels good to walk with you and not, you know, chase after you in the middle of a fight.”

Mitchell winces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Connor clicks his tongue. “Do you think I should go help round my siblings up? I mean, isn’t that what a good cabin councilor will do?”

“I think Will and the others have it covered.” Mitchell says. It’s not like Hermes had a lot of cabin members. There was just twelve of them this year, most of them falling in the war. It was sometimes a sore topic to talk about. How some cabins seemed emptier than they normally were.

They linger by the steps leading to the Aphrodite Cabin’s door and watch as Nico summons little shadow doorways to direct the piglets to the infirmary.

“Busy day.” Connor says in lieu of a goodbye, tearing his eyes away.

“Yeah,” Mitchell agrees, shifting the packets of chips and chocolates in his arms. “Thanks for the food.”

“Thank you for loving me.” Connor leans forward to kiss the blush on Mitchell’s face. “Fire and all.”

The son of Aphrodite clears his throat and nods his head. “Right. Um, goodnight Connor.”

“Goodnight.” Connor watches as Mitchell climbs up the steps. “Oh wait, can you open the door?”

“Oh,” Mitchell looks at him. “I actually can’t. Can you do it for me?”

Connor startles as Travis’ struggling in his arms begins anew, more frantic. Maybe it was stupid of him to ignore the warning signs his prank senses were giving him but Connor climbs up the stairs to open the door.

Mitchell shouts when Connor’s hit with a white ball roughly the size of an apple and where his boyfriend had been holding Travis-piglet in his arms were now two piglets that he couldn’t tell apart at all.

“Got him!”

“Lacy!” Mitchell groans as his siblings crowd around the doorway to get a look of Connor and Travis and he shoves his armful of food and turns it into someone else’ burden before scooping both Connor and Travis in his arms. “Hades, you guys are heavy.”

“They look adorable.” Valentina coos poking one piglet in the tummy.

“Stop that.” Mitchell says pulling the piglets back protectively.

“Are you feeling better Mitchell?” Janessa asks, her brown eyes big and hopeful. “Sophie says she talked to Lou Ellen to get the spell balls to do this.”

“Did she now?” Mitchell shakes his head fondly as he eyes his siblings. “Thank you. Yes, I’m feeling better.”

There were cheers all around.

“You guys should get into bed, it’s almost curfew.” Mitchell tells them.

“What about you?” Xavier asks.

Mitchell holds up the piglets in his arms. “They won’t find their way to the Hermes cabin by themselves.”

“I’ll take one off of you Mitchell.”

The Aphrodite cabin greets Katie as she steps up to their cabin, arms open and literally taking one from Mitchell and handing him a wicker basket. The rest of the cabin walks back in, enthusiastically discussing a job well done, as they got ready for bed.

“Hey Katie.” Mitchell allows the exchange to happen and gives her a confused look as he took the basket. “What’s this for?”

“Dinner.” Katie smiles sheepishly at him. “Connor told Travis about your fight and he felt a little guilty that he caused it so he asked me to make you something after your whole cabin went missing. They’ve already eaten, everything in that is yours.”

“Wow.” Mitchell smiles at her then at the piglet in her arms. “Thanks Travis.”

“He can be sweet sometimes.” Katie tells him conspiratorially.

“How can you tell which ones which?”

“Hmm?” Katie hugs the piglet in her arms close and beams at him. “Travis has a birthmark on his stomach.” She holds the piglet in a way his little tummy, and the brown circle-shaped-marking was visible. “This one’s mine.”

“Neat.” Mitchell laughs. “You gonna take him to the Hermes cabin?”

“Nah,” Katie hugs Travis close. “We only have so many nights left, you know? Any excuse to sleep next to him.”

Mitchell looks down at the piglet in his arms, a lot calmer than it had been earlier. “True.”

“Night Mitchell.” Katie waves at him and makes her way to the Demeter cabin just as Chiron’s ten minute warning goes through the camp.

Connor makes a noise when Mitchell takes too long on the Aphrodite Cabin’s checkerboard porch.

“Hmm?”

Oink.

“I was just thinking.” Mitchell shuffles so he can let the basket hang from the crook of his arm and he’s cradling Connor comfortably in his arms. “Welcome to the Aphrodite Cabin, sweetheart.”

Mitchell inwardly chuckles and wonders how he knows the next oink is nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was initially going to break them up BUT GUYS, they wouldn't LET me. They wrote themselves on their own, I swear! 
> 
> Also, I've only recently discovered good old Rick's Camp Half-Blood Confidential and the rest of the Demigod Diaries so there will be some stuff inconsistent with canon. I'll go back and rewrite some stuff if necessary but so far I can't be bothered ahahaha
> 
> See you in the next installment which will be put up at the same time this goes up.

**Author's Note:**

> Did I ever mention that I'm notorious for angsty stories? *evil laughter*


End file.
